Bringing the Word to Life for Young Adults

I recently served at the inaugural Word Alive event with Lysa TerKeurst. It was an immersive, hands-on journey into God’s Word and proved to be a powerful experience for everyone involved. We often read the Bible through an American lens and can gloss over powerful passages that we’ve read before—or worse, fail to really dig into God’s message to us because we think we already know everything it has to say.

This event for me was a powerful reminder that God’s Word is living and active and is used by Him to instruct, guide, and correct every area of our lives. The Bible is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. As someone who ministers to young adults, there may be no more valuable task for you than to pass on a love and knowledge of His Word to those you serve.

Here are three ways to help bring the Word to life for young adults:

Challenge them to understand the original context. We live in a world that is different from the backdrop against which the original words were written. Challenge young adults to think beyond their everyday setting to connect with the world of the author. Think creatively about ways to incorporate items in the text to draw young adults into the world of the text. Break out a palm frond, squeeze an olive, or introduce frankincense or myrrh. Creating an experience that engages one of the senses can help bring a biblical story to life.

Couple your personal story with Scripture. Young adults want to know that the Bible is relevant to their lives. And, if they are going to trust your teaching, they want to know it makes a difference in yours as well. Make sure they know the main point of the passage, but also make sure they know that you know the main point and are intentionally trying to live it out.

Connect the focal passage to the Bible’s grand narrative. Lots of little stories in the Bible make up one overarching story. Help young adults learn to see where individual passages in the Bible point to the grand storyline of redemption in Christ, and they will forever read the Bible with gospel focus.

As you seek to teach the Bible to young adults, the Bible itself gives us great hope in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Whatever you do, point people to the Word. It promises to do a powerful work in their lives.

Bill Noe is the Collegiate Ministry Specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources. A former campus minister (and current collegiate ministry volunteer at church), Bill loves being a part of seeing college students grow in their walk with the Lord. Connect with Bill on Twitter.